Meet the Governors

Category:

Governor
(Chair)

Profile:

Stuart is Chair of Governors at the Education Training Collective (Etc.). Professionally, Stuart is Chief Financial Officer and board member at Railpen, where he has worked since 2001. He is a Chartered Accountant and was previously Vice Chair of the Railway Housing Association, an organisation which provides approximately 1,500 homes across the North East of England and Hereford.

Calling Stockton-on-Tees home, with his wife, two sons, and their miniature schnauzer, Alfie. Stuart is a keen believer in education, having attended secondary school in Durham and the University of York where he received a 1st Class degree in Economics and Finance.

In his spare time, Stuart enjoys running, golf and holidaying with his family.

Stuart believes that organisations with a strong purpose, one that is clearly articulated, succeed and says of his appointment to the Etc. governing body:

“One of the things that attracted me to the board of governors at Etc., in 2019, was its purpose and in particular the ‘Tone of Voice’ which is an important part of the culture here.

I love to work with organisations with a clear and strong purpose.

The Etc. provides the building blocks that people need in life to succeed – skills, training and opportunities to support them in achieving career aspirations. As a proud North Easterner, I am keen to showcase this area and the talent we have – it is vital everybody has the opportunity to succeed and achieve their best in life.”

Committee membership:

• Search and Governance Committee
• Remuneration Committee
• Finance and Employment Committee
• Capital Group

Profile:

Dot brings to the corporation over thirty years’ experience in the further education sector. Her teaching career began in the 1980s and, over a period of sixteen years, she delivered Business Studies and Teacher Education courses in colleges in the north east and North Yorkshire. As Director of Curriculum and Assistant Principal Curriculum she further pursued her commitment to supporting the development of skills training for young people and adults and for bringing together education and business in local and regional economies.

When the Learning and Skills Council was established in 2001 as a non-departmental public body responsible for the planning and funding of post-sixteen education and training Dot took on the role of Director of Learning, Planning & Performance in the LSC North East. She contributed to curriculum policy development nationally and was subsequently seconded to the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) to prepare for the transfer of LSC responsibilities to the Young People’s Learning Agency (YPLA) and the Skills Funding Agency (SFA). She was Director of the YPLA in the north east and Director of its successor, the Education Funding Agency (EFA), in the north of England.

Committee membership:

• Standards Improvement Committee (Chair)
• Remuneration Committee
• Capital Group

Category:

Chief Executive, ex officio governor

Profile:

Grant has over 20 years’ experience of teaching, management and leadership in Further and Higher Education, beginning his career in London colleges after teaching abroad. His teaching specialisms have ranged from English for Speakers of Other Languages, Initial Teacher Education, Dyslexia Support and Access to Higher Education. Progressing through the ranks at City and Islington College to its senior management team, he served as Director for Lifelong Learning for six years, before taking up role as Vice Principal and later Interim Principal for the College. In 2018, he moved to Carlisle to take up the principalship of Carlisle College, part of the NCG group, and in 2020 he was appointed to the role of Executive Principal for NCG North, responsible for Carlisle, Newcastle and West Lancashire colleges. He has been CEO and Group Principal at the Etc. since August 2022.

Committee membership:

• Finance and Employment Committee
• Standards Improvement Committee
• Search and Governance Committee
• Capital Group
• TVC Board

Category:

Governor

Profile:

Subhash graduated as a Chemical Engineer from Imperial College, London and has over 40 years of professional experience in senior management positions, primarily in the biotechnology and life science industries. He has held a wide range of strategic and operational roles, with competing, challenging and intricate demands, in small business environment as well as in in global corporations. He loves working across different cultures and has international experience of organisations in UK, USA & Europe.

Subhash has lived in the NE since graduating and has strong passion to see NE of England grow its industrial base in the advanced technologies and manufacturing and for it to become a leading and sustainable player on the global stage. He is one of the three founding members of the team that built up a biotechnology business in the NE, which now has more than 1050 highly skilled employees in Billingham. He is currently Director for Strategic Investments at Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies.

His many achievements have been recognised with him being awarded – ‘Outstanding Contribution award to the NE process industry’ in 2014 by NEPIC and in the New Year’s Honours list 2015 by an MBE. He is also a Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers.

He is a keen follower of cricket, enjoys travelling and being trustee of a pension fund.

Committee membership:

• Audit Committee (Chair)
• Capital Group

Profile:

Louise Davies is currently employed as a Business Manager at Linthorpe Community Primary School, part of The Legacy Learning Trust. Louise has worked in primary and secondary maintained schools, academies and multi academy trusts for thirty years and feels passionately that opportunity should be available to all and that there should be no barriers to the best education it is possible to achieve. The students are the absolute priority and their education, experiences and aspirations determine their future.

Committee membership:

• Finance and Employment (Chair)
• Remuneration Committee
• Capital Group

Profile:

Gary is Deputy Chief People Officer for North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust.

Committee membership:

• Standards Improvement Committee
• Careers Link Governor
• Link Governor for Safeguarding
• Remuneration Committee (Chair)

Profile:

Educated at Cleveland Grammar School, Redcar and Neville’s Cross College, Durham University, Anne has 40 years’ experience teaching PE locally in both large comprehensives, sixth form colleges and independent schools. She has a wide range of experience in pastoral care, special educational needs, careers advice, child protection, teacher training, staff development and administration. Anne is also a trustee of the Sir William Turner Foundation.

A team player, her organising skills know no bounds and she is at her best when working alongside colleagues for the benefit of others. Careers Conventions, Speech Days, Sports Days, Summer Fairs and the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme are a few of her successful events. Along with planning and organising many educational, cultural and sporting trips/ tours abroad.

Following her retirement as Assistant Head from Teesside High School, she worked for Sport England and the Youth Sport Trust as the School Games Organiser for Middlesbrough. Here her role involved working with the Tees Valley School Games partnership planning and running a range of inclusive competitions and festivals for both Primary and Secondary pupils across the Tees Valley. Promoting the Active 60 minutes for all, running Young Leaders and Crew training and developing an active workforce to support the events. Her dedication to the role saw her being recognised as being in the top 10% of School Games Organisers in the country. She is currently supporting the Middlesbrough Primary Schools Sports Partnership and volunteering with Make it Wild – a rewilding project in Nidderdale, planting trees, repairing dry stone walls, digging ponds and land management.

Committee membership:

• Standards Improvement Committee
• T Level Link Governor

Profile:

With more than 20 years of experience working in the education, training and skills sector, and 14 years’ senior management experience, Fabienne is an Executive Director at Aim Qualifications and Assessment Group.

Her career in skills and training started as a Jobcentre Plus Advisor, where she found herself working with the long-term unemployed helping them to develop core skills to get back into work. The role saw Fabienne move into teaching English and maths to jobseekers, inspiring her to complete her PGCE.

Going on to work in adult and community learning in some of the most disadvantaged areas of the Tees Valley, she discovered a passion for helping others. Her career has incorporated curriculum management, MIS, quality management and skills for life, working across Hartlepool, Darlington, Stockton, Middlesbrough and County Durham, eventually moving in to business management.

Through her work with the local authorities, including Stockton Borough Council and Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, Fabienne was no stranger to the colleges of the Education Training Collective.

Mum to two daughters, Fabienne now describes herself as a lifelong learner. She said: “I feel I have skills to give and I am passionate about the Tees Valley. There are some fantastic industries here with good paying jobs, it is about helping people to know where the opportunities are and developing the skillsets to find those jobs.”

Committee membership:

• Finance and Employment Committee
• Search and Governance Committee (Chair)

Profile:

Opening people’s eyes to the career opportunities that exist in the Tees Valley is part of the drive that brings Rachel to the Education Training Collective’s governing board. Relatively new to the area, she is Operations Director at PD Ports and has been amazed by the industry that exists in the area and particularly surrounding the port.

Rachel’s own fast paced career in logistics wasn’t something that she planned but a summer job working in a transport office ignited her initial enthusiasm for the sector, giving her a clear sense of direction when it came to making future career choices.

Rachel spent 16 years learning every aspect of her trade, progressing through the ranks with Gist Limited. Gaining an extensive knowledge of both warehousing and transport, she secured her first general manager’s position before the age of 30 and went on to run three depots with 500 colleagues and 50 managers in each.

Having followed a career path that has enabled her to live and work all over the UK, and for a time in France, Rachel is now looking forward to establishing roots in the Tees Valley.

Having regularly coached and mentored others starting their careers, Rachel said: “This is a growing area with investment coming in, particularly at the port. There are so many types of work that young people often don’t know is available, such as logistics. It would be great to show people from all backgrounds, the opportunities that are in this industry for those with the right skillset.”

Committee membership:

• Audit Committee

Profile:

Mark has lived within the Tees Valley all his life. He achieved an honours degree in Chemical Engineering and Fuel Technology from Sheffield University in 1981 and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chemical Engineers.

He started his career with the international turnkey contract company Davy McKee in Stockton and then moved to ICI in 1988, staying with the company for 20 years. In 2008 Mark joined the entrepreneurial management team at Ensus, the first UK top Tier COMAH brewery and distillery manufacturing bioethanol, and then on to Huntsman Tioxide (Greatham Site) in 2012 as manufacturing change manager to help improve the site’s overall performance in people, contracts and projects. He retired in 2016 and is now part of a small team of volunteers developing and implementing the Tees Valley Strategy for the Prince’s Trust as well as being a business and progression mentor for disadvantaged young people on Teesside. Mark is also a member of the Outwood Grange Academies Trust North Regional Board.

Committee membership:

• Audit Committee
• T Level Link Governor
• Capital Group

Profile:

Amanda works for Redcar and Cleveland Council as Head of Employability. She is married with two adult children who have finally moved into their own homes. She lives in Stockton on Tees, with her husband Gary and cat Skye.

I have worked in the education and skills sector for the past 20 years and this is where my passion lies. I am a strong advocate for continuous and lifelong learning, and I am passionate about the region I live in, and this is why it is an honour to be a Governor for Etc.

I believe that anyone has the potential to achieve their ambitions and there should be no timeframe on this. I see the impact of education and learning every day in my work when young people (who have not always engaged well in school) grow in confidence and self-esteem, when they are undertaking learning that they enjoy and can connect to their future career goals.

I returned as an adult learner and undertook a degree when my children were quite young, managing this alongside part-time work was challenging at times and Durham University was not necessarily set up for part time learners at the time, but I absolutely loved it. I felt fulfilled, challenged in a good way and developed strong bonds and friendships with my peers on the degree course. It built my confidence and helped with personal development and career progression.

My early career was in the Hospitality Sector, and I moved quite quickly into management roles. I then progressed to community education and worked very closely with Stockton Adult Education and what was then, Stockton and Billingham College, developing strong partnerships to respond to community education and learning needs to support economic and social regeneration.

I worked as a part-time Tutor, delivering training to diverse groups of students (including learners with special educational needs and disabilities) and have managed alternative education programmes and an Education Business Partnership before progressing to senior roles nationally, both in operational management and business development (but all in the education and skills sector).

I returned to work in the Tees Valley in 2018 for Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council in the Children and Families Directorate. I thoroughly enjoy my current role and have developed strong relationships with local college and training provider partners to support the participation of children and young people in education, and to identify and respond to gaps in provision. I chair both the NEET Provider Forum and Careers Network in Redcar and Cleveland. I am also a Foster Panel member and sit on the Council for the Cleveland Institute of Engineers.”

Amanda is a highly motivated and passionate individual, possessing good organisational skills who can prioritise and multi-task. She is able to manage risk, solve complex problems, and drive business performance to deliver excellent results, without compromising quality. Possessing good written and verbal communication skills and the ability to build and sustain strong strategic partnerships. An empowering management style, with drive and ambition for mutual gain!

Committee membership:

• Finance and Employment Committee

Category:

Governor

Profile:

David is a Chartered Accountant and graduated in law from Cambridge University. In addition to serving on the Etc. board, he is a member of the Council of the University of York and Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee, and a member of the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee of Battersea Dogs’ and Cats’ Home.

David has extensive management and senior management experience in financial services, including in investment banking/corporate finance, private equity and asset management. As a co-founding partner of the asset management firm, Pensato Capital, in 2007, he was responsible for the overall management of the business. These responsibilities included Corporate Governance, Systems and Controls, Compliance and Regulation, Finance/Audit (manager and funds), Legal, Risk and HR. After building a successful and well-regarded business, David then managed the sale of the business to a sector consolidator in 2017 before moving back to North Yorkshire where he grew up in September, 2018.

A key driver for David’s decision to join the Etc. board is his belief that learning and education in a safe and secure environment is integral to the future and aspirations of all our children, teenagers and young adults.

Committee membership:

• Audit Committee

Category:

Governor

Profile:

Andrea has over 20 years’ knowledge and experience of working in all aspects of finance, management and education gathered in both the public and private sectors; she graduated with a BSc in Accounting and holds an Advanced Diploma in CIMA. Andrea is a qualified FE teacher and is passionate to promote continued learning and development across the workplace. Understanding the value and importance of workplace learning, she has taught accounting to apprentices in both the classroom and via distance learning.

As Head of Finance for a registered national charity, Andrea provides financial support and guidance to over 50 services across the country. The charity supports adults with learning needs, complex care needs, respite care, disabilities, homelessness, and modern day slavery. Andrea uses her excellent leadership skills and experience of learning and development to further her colleagues understanding of finance policies and processes and to pursue excellence.

Andrea previously worked in an independent school and, as Head of Finance and Compliance, played a crucial role in ensuring financial resilience and securing an excellent Inspection result. This role highlighted how much education has evolved and was a key driver in Andrea joining the board at the Etc. She hopes to add value from a business perspective to ensure education is at the forefront, where learners are a priority and their journey gives them the best possible start.

In her spare time, Andrea likes to walk her Labrador, spend time with family and friends and travel as much as possible.

Profile:

Liz has worked at Stockton Riverside College since 2001. She has worked as an Art and Design lecturer and Course Leader for 14 years. Prior to this she was Quality and Standards Manager for the Prince’s Trust and then Head of Quality for Creative and Service Industries. She then decided to go back to her first love of teaching and art and design. Her art and design specialisms include Textiles, Surface Pattern, Fashion and Illustration. She worked in London for many years in the interior and fashion fabric industry and has exhibited at Surtex in New York. She also produced work for greeting cards, stationery and Fine Art Prints.

Committee membership:

• Finance and Employment Committee
• Standards Improvement Committee

Category:

Co-opted member, Audit Committee

Profile:

Gary has over 25 years’ experience working within the finance sector. Starting his career in local Teesside-based accountancy firms, he completed a Modern Apprenticeship and attained his Association of Accounting Technicians qualification. Gary went on to become a qualified Chartered Management Accountant and has worked in various industries including, healthcare, retail, leisure, catering and chemical manufacturing, building knowledge and experience across different business sectors. Currently working as Business Operations Finance Director for a multi-national chemical firm, Gary has a wealth of leadership, governance, strategic and business knowledge.

Gary believes that education is important for everyone and that diversity is the key to success. The driving factor for Gary to become a co-opted member is Etc.’s diverse education portfolio, offering a range of routes to education with excellent support for ‘next steps’, whether that be further education or moving into industry. It is about people finding the route that is best for them, including how they learn and make progress to better themselves.

‘Being able to contribute to Etc.’s governance is an honour. It is a great opportunity to share the skills I have learnt in and around Teesside to help Etc. provide the best education for people to learn and grow in Teesside.’

Category:

Co-opted member, Standards Improvement Committee

Profile:

Bernice is studying the Certificate in Education, having previously studied at Level 2, 3 and 4 in beauty, complementary and sports therapies at the Etc. In addition to her studies, Bernice runs her own holistic, sports and beauty therapy business and is a support worker for people with learning disabilities. She is also a team leader for a local charity providing information and support to people with Crohn’s disease and colitis. In her spare time, she enjoys going for meals and spending time with friends and family.